Blues & Roots

King Curtis, Cornell Dupree, Esther Phillips & Jimi Hendrix I spotted this beautiful photo of Esther Phillips with King Curtis, Cornell Dupree, and Jimi Hendrix on Facebook last weekend.  It took...

There’s no doubt in my mind that the first music I heard from New Orleans was by Fats Domino, and that he was in my head for well over a decade before the city’s music became a passion of mine....

Fenton Robinson Dear Reader: Please don’t mistake this blog as an endorsement of cigarette smoking. I chain-smoked Pall Malls, Kools, Marlboro Lights and other coffin nails for 23 years and have...

Hail! Hail! Chuck Berry! Today is his 86th birthday. I marked the occasion by watching Hail! Hail! Rock’n’Roll for about the fifth time.  Taylor Hackford’s refreshingly candid documentary...

It was reported on Friday that this photograph reputedly picturing the great bluesmen Robert Johnson (left) and Johnny Shines was donated by the Johnson estate to Getty Images.  It’s only the third...

Paying Armed Robbery Dues to See the Wolf on Film It’s a luxury afforded by YouTube that we can enjoy historic performances like Howlin’ Wolf on Shindig! without leaving the comfort of our...

“I was by him like [pianist Otis] Spann was Muddy Waters.” So the late Hubert Sumlin describes his inseparable connection to Howlin’ Wolf in this documentary footage. Was there a more...

J Geils Band Jay Geils died on April 11 at his home in Groton, Massachusetts, at age 71, from what police determined were natural causes. The guitarist lent his name to one of the hardest-working and...

James Cotton James Cotton, the blues harmonica great renowned for his long tenure with Muddy Waters and the high-octane energy of his own festival and nightclub shows, died on Thursday, March 16, in...

Happy Birthday to the Blues Harp Master Few harmonica players announce themselves by tone alone better than James Cotton. The great bluesman, born 80 years ago today in Tunica, Mississippi, has a huge,...